Summary: An unusual Aboriginal engraving site on a vertical rock surface, which includes a Baiame and Daramulan figure.

Not far from the Benowie Track is an unusual Aboriginal engraving site, with overlapping engravings carved on a rock surface. It was first described by R.H. Mathews in 1895: “The central figures of the group are suggestive of a woman with a child upon her lap. The larger figure has four longitudinal stripes on the body, a belt around the waist, a band across the thigh, and another on the arm; there is also what appears to be a head-dress. Beside this figure are a number of lines resembling those cut .upon the ground and upon trees, and known “yammunyamun” among some tribes. These lines terminate behind the nether part of the body in an object resembling a human foot. The smaller figure, which may be intended for a child, has also a belt around the waist, and the line forming the lower side of the arm is continued across the body; the only features shown are the eyes.

It’s difficult to determine the individual motifs as they are intertwined: Stegg & Campbell included this in their book as illustrating the challenges of interpreting Aboriginal rock engravings: “It also brings into discussion the problems of recording sites when one has preconceived ideas about the subject-matter, or indeed when one has no idea of the subject matter“. The figures (arguably) include a Baiame figure, and a seated Daramulum figure with an infant or small child on his lap, and a koala.

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Berowra Heights Circuit | Hiking the World · August 23, 2021 at 6:23 pm

[…] before the carpark (at the end of Kirkpatrick Way) is an unusual Aboriginal engraving site, which is on a vertical rock surface. While it’s close to the path, I would have walked past […]

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Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Over 40 sites have been recorded within the park; many were located along the river bank and were flooded by the building of the weir in 1938.
Red Hands Cave, Glenbrook (Blue Mountains)
The Blue Mountains National Park (and surrounding areas along the Great Western Highway) is thought to have over a thousand indigenous heritage sites, although much of the park has not been comprehensively surveyed. The Aboriginal rock sites in the Blue Mountains include grinding grooves, stensils, drawing and rock carvings.